Music

The legal battle between Megan Thee Stallion and her record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment, continues. According to People, the rapper is demanding a hefty $1 million in relief for the label’s “unconscionable” failure to release her from her contract.

In court documents obtained by the publication, Meg’s attorneys cited the “long and tortured history of disputes” between their client and 1501, noting they’ve been able to work through most of the issues regarding the release of Meg’s music. However, an unresolved issue — and a main reason for the litigation — is whether the rapper fulfilled the requirements of her contract.

Meg believes her contractual obligations were met with the release of her last two albums, Something for Thee Hotties and Traumazine, but the label begs to differ. Steven M. Zager, attorney for 1501, claims the former fell short of what the label considers an “album” because it featured spoken word and archival material and was released too soon after her debut, Good News.

As for Traumazine, Zager says it’s currently being evaluated and shut down the “preposterous” allegations that the label was behind the LP’s leak. He believes Meg owes “one more album, at least” and insists that 1501 wants the rapper to win despite their current disagreements.

“For a host of reasons, we feel that our position is justified and based on the contracts,” Zager told People. “We’ve tried to work with Megan, and we want Megan to be successful.” 

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Most people like to enjoy a slice of cake and maybe some ice cream for their birthday, but Kacey Musgraves made a more unconventional choice to ring in her 34th year.

The singer was on a trip to Japan on her big day, and she celebrated by taking in all the breathtaking sights and one-of-a-kind cultural experiences the country has to offer. Among those was a restaurant that had fried insects on the menu, so of course Kacey had to test them out.

“What if they jump out?” the singer says on an Instagram Stories slide she posted about the experience, nervously leaning toward a plate with a small bowl placed upside down in the center of it.

Of course, underneath it were the crickets — but they didn’t hop out. Finally, Kacey got up the nerve to try one, and it turned out they weren’t that bad. “Nothing!” the singer said.

She also posted a slide of the full menu of insects, also including fried scorpions and tarantulas. You can follow along for the rest of Kacey’s birthday activities over on her social media.

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Demi Lovato is a Grammy-winning singer, actor, director and producer — but there’s one title they say is missing from their resume: parent.

Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, the “Substance” artist opened up about their dreams of having a family of their own one day. “My bucket list doesn’t include things like jumping out of a plane ’cause I’ve already done that,” Demi joked. “Things like having a family is really important to me.”

They noted becoming a parent, to them, is “the substance of life.”

Demi also reflected on how much they’ve matured since entering the spotlight over two decades ago. “I’ve been through a lot, you know, and I’m really proud of myself,” they said. “And sometimes I look in the mirror and I just say, ‘I am so proud of you. You’re doing great and I love you.'”

This evolution is embodied in their new album, Holy Fvck, which they say is a representation of their most “authentic self.”   

“I’m back to my roots and I’m no longer performing in little leotards and in stilettos, you know, trying to be someone I thought people wanted from me,” Demi said. “Finding my own voice was really important to me and now I understand that I am in control of my life. I make my own decisions and I’m my own boss.”

“I’ve really figured out who I am,” the singer continued, adding they’ve “never felt so sure of myself and grounded.”

Demi previously touched upon wanting children when speaking with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe last week, saying, “I don’t know why I want to say this, but I can’t wait to have kids some day.”

The “Anyone” singer recently celebrated their 30th birthday, ringing in the big 3-0 on August 20.

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Chloe Lattanzi, the daughter of late legend Olivia Newton-John, is paying tribute to her mother two weeks after her passing.

The 36-year-old took to Instagram to discuss why grief is so painful by sharing a quote from author Jamie Anderson.

The quote reads, “Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot.  All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest.”

The quote ends with, “Grief is just love with no place to go.”

Lattanzi captioned the post with a single red heart emoji.

The singer has regularly been paying tribute to her late mother since news of her passing broke earlier this month. Lattanzi recently shared a highlight reel of Newton-John and thanked the people who pieced the video clips together.

“Thank you @olivianewtonjohnvideos for these beautiful moments you put together. Thank you for your love,” she wrote. “My mama and I would always look at your page together. You brought back so many wonderful memories for her.”

Newton-John died on August 8 after a yearslong battle with cancer.  She was 73.

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Beastie Boys are back, in action figure form.

The toy company Super7 is releasing mini, plastic recreations of Ad-Rock, Mike D and the late MCA, inspired by their characters from the “Sabotage” video.

The officially licensed figures stand 3.75 inches tall and are available to preorder now individually or all together in a single set.

For more info, visit Super7.com.

The “Sabotage” video, which was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Spike Jonze, has been viewed over 105 million times on YouTube.

(Video contains uncensored profanity) 

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Journey‘s first studio album in 11 years, Freedom, was released last month.

The 15-track collection includes songs that sound like they could have come from various periods in Journey’s history, and features a mix of power ballads, hard-rocking tunes, sensitive love songs and even a funk-influenced track.

Guitarist Neal Schon oversaw Freedom‘s recording with drummer Narada Michael Walden, who co-produced the album with Schon and collaborated with Neal in the studio on most of the basic tracks.

Schon tells ABC Audio that some of his favorite songs on Freedom are the ones that rock the hardest, including “Come Away with Me,” “All Day and All Night,” “Holdin On” and the heavy funk-rock tune “Let It Rain.”

“[T]hose four tracks there, I felt they were some of the louder ones that I wrote,” Neal says. “And once I got into that vibe with Narada, when we were recording guitar and drum tracks, I felt like I wanted to come with more of it, because it’s actually what we could use in our live show.”

Journey has incorporated two of those songs into their concert sets this summer, with “Let It Rain” being played at the band’s last eight concerts, while “Come Away with Me” got its live debut at the group’s most recent performance, on August 8 in Canandaigua, New York.

Speaking about “Let It Rain,” Schon says, “[T]hat’s my Cajun soup deluxe of probably [Jimi] Hendrix and Prince and Chaka Khan and a little bit of Sly [Stone influences]…those R&B and funk roots that I don’t get to explore a lot in the Journey realm.”

Journey has four more confirmed shows on its 2022 tour schedule, all taking place in September. Visit JourneyMusic.com to check out the band’s full schedule.

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Top Gun: Maverick arrives on digital streaming apps Tuesday. Its soundtrack features the new Lady Gaga and OneRepublic hits “Hold My Hand” and “I Ain’t Worried,” as well as the  original 1986 version of the Kenny Loggins hit “Danger Zone,” which plays during the opening sequence of both Maverick and the first movie.  And Kenny says he can tell that Maverick has introduced a whole new generation to his music.

“It’s the same process that happened 30 years ago with ‘Danger Zone,'” Kenny says, referring to the fact that people who saw the original Top Gun in 1986 discovered him and his music through that movie.

He adds, “I think [as far as] hearing from the younger audience … ‘Danger Zone’ has been streaming like mad now since the movie came out. I’m grateful that Tom [Cruise] used it, and I’m grateful that people still dig the song.”

Kenny actually recorded a new version of “Danger Zone” so it would sound as though it was recorded today and not 30 years ago, but Cruise rejected it in favor of the original.

“You can tell it’s a little lower fi than the rest of the movie if you really listen to it. But it still pops,” Kenny tells ABC Audio. “It’s still pretty good and it definitely works in that opening scene.” 

Kenny says by using the old version of the song, Cruise’s “intention was to take everybody who was there 30 years ago … back in time to that moment, so that this becomes seamless to the original Top Gun.”

The digital version of Top Gun: Maverick comes with 110 minutes of bonus content, including Gaga and OneRepublic’s music videos.

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Following the June premiere of the new single “Something Loud,” Jimmy Eat World is continuing to work on new music. However, as frontman Jim Adkins tells ABC Audio, “The Middle” outfit may be veering from the traditional album release structure moving forward.

“For the foreseeable future, I think we’re just gonna work on maybe releasing less music but more often,” Adkins shares.

“Instead of [taking] three years to make an album and then disappearing for three years, maybe it’s more about just, like, putting out songs or putting out two songs, an EP at a time,” he explains. “Whenever you have something.”

Releasing “Something Loud” as a standalone single represents a step in that new strategy.

“There [are] really no rules anymore, and I think people consume music in way different ways than even, like, five years ago,” Adkins says. “So, just putting out a song with no other expectations is our attempt at meeting people where they’re at with how they consume music.”

As Adkins and his bandmates continue to contemplate the best way to release music in the year 2022 and beyond, exactly when and how any new tunes will be released is still up in the air. One thing you can almost certainly rule out, though, is a “Something Loud Part 2.”

“It’s sorta weird, I think everything you do is somewhat a rejection of what you just did,” Adkins says. “‘Cause you just did that.”

In the meantime, you can catch Jimmy Eat World live on tour starting September 8 in Cleveland. They’re also playing the When We Were Young festival, held this October in Las Vegas.

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Back in February, New York University offered a course on Taylor Swift, focusing on her entrepreneurship, how she fits into the history of pop music “prodigies,” and how the experiences of youth and girlhood are “often exploited” by the media.  Now, the University of Texas at Austin is following suit, offering a class that focuses specifically on Taylor’s songwriting.

Starting this fall, Dr. Elizabeth Scala at UT’s English department will teach Literary Contests and Contexts: The Taylor Swift Songbook.  It’ll use Taylor’s songwriting to teach “a wide range of skills.” As the school’s Facebook post says, “Let’s turn that Easter Egg hunting and reading in detail to academic purposes!”

Scala tells The Austin-American Statesman that she’s focusing on Taylor because she admires her writing skills, calling the star “an intelligent and talented songwriter.” 

Scala says her daughter introduced her to Taylor in November, after the release of Red (Taylor’s Version). She notes, “For me, it’s all about form (not just or even primarily about content). We will study Swift’s songs as poems and literary structures.”

As previously reported, Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Harry Styles will be the subject of a class at Texas State University next spring.

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With just a few days left before the release of The Forever Story, JID‘s unveiled his track list.

The album will have 15 songs, including previously released singles “Dance Now” and “Surround Sound” featuring 21 Savage and Baby Tate, as well as the “2007” outro that includes bars from J. Cole, Dreamville President Ibrahim Hamad and his own father.

Other features are on the project, too, but their names have been blocked.

Instead, the track list revealed the producers and composers who contributed to The Forever Story; 2One2, Aviad, Badbadnotgood, Benji, Cardiak, Childish Major, DJ Khalil and Thundercat were among those credited for their work on The Forever Story.

JID’s new album is due out Friday.

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